


Reverse

by LionBadger



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Abuse, And Charles is the bad guy, I'm not nice here, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Ouch, Protective papas Kimi and Seb, Unhealthy Relationships, daniel to the rescue, heed the tags, this is rough
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:15:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21636478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LionBadger/pseuds/LionBadger
Summary: Featuring Charles as an abusive boyfriend, Max as a broken soul, Daniel as a savior, and Everyone Else is just furious and protective.I'm so sorry. Don't read if the tags are triggering for you. It will be rough.
Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen
Comments: 52
Kudos: 194





	1. Flight

**Author's Note:**

> This is twisted. And I am sorry. But here it is.

It's always Max painted as the bad guy, the aggressor, the ruthless one. Always poor Charles, sweet Charles, special and adorable and delightful Charles. No one could imagine how it really was. And if anything, didn't that just prove people right about Max? How good could he really be if he's this good at lying? 

Max has become an expert at hiding the bruises. At controlling his reactions when someone comes at him a little too fast; it takes everything in his power not to flinch, but he does it well now. It’s probably twisted, the way he thinks he must deserve it, there has to be a reason that Charles gets so angry with him, that someone who loves him so much has to hurt him. And Max knows, he  _ knows _ , that it could all stop if he just told someone what was happening. But who would believe him? How could he possibly convince anyone that Charles -beautiful, doe-eyed Charles- was hurting him?

It had started small. They’d been arguing, both of them horribly stressed after a bad qualifying day. Max doesn’t even remember what he said, but he remembers the sting of Charles’ hand on his face. He had been shocked, and Charles had immediately apologetic, begging for forgiveness, mumbling about stress and being so tired. Max had forgiven him, of course, how could he not? It’s not like Max’s temper was exactly gentle. Except the hitting had never stopped. It was a weekly occurrence at this point, and Max didn’t know what to do anymore.

He was currently hiding in his hotel room in Abu Dhabi, curtains closed tight against the lights of the city, trophy glittering darkly in the corner of the room. He’s praying that Charles just stumbles back to his own room after his celebrations with Ferrari, having dipped out of his own celebration early, telling his team he was exhausted. Max can’t wait for the winter break, he has Christmas plans with his family at home, far away from the hell that Monaco has become for him recently.

Max’s inner monologue is interrupted by a sharp knocking on the door, and his heart freezes. 

“Oh, Maaaaxx!” the lilting French accent wafts through the door, and the light tone of his voice gives Max hope that tonight will be a good night. He rushes over and opens the door.

He knows instantly that he’s made a mistake. Charles looks happy, but Max recognizes that mean glint in his eyes. Even realizing that, he’s still not prepared for Charles to shove him into the room and slam the door closed.

Before he can even process what’s happening, Charles has him pinned to the wall, lips all over his throat, sucking and biting in a way that Max knows is going to leave marks. Charles pulls back, gripping Max’s shoulder hard and pressing him down onto his knees. Max looks up at him, blue eyes pleading.

Charles smiles coldly, “You know what you should do.”

Max opens Charles’ pants, sliding them down just enough to gain access to the man’s cock. Max closes his eyes and takes Charles into his mouth. Just as he’s getting a nice rhythm going, a hand cruelly bites into his hair. 

“Look at me.” Charles growls, tugging not so gently.

Max forces his eyes up, and Charles takes advantage of his moment of distraction and forces his cock deeper into Max’s throat. Max chokes and tears up, but Charles doesn’t let up, instead, he takes a step closer to Max, backing him even further into the wall. Max’s head smacks the wall painfully, and he lets out a little yelp. Charles face-fucks him for what feels like forever, before finally stepping back. Max takes a deep breath, thankful for the relief from the burning in his lungs. It doesn’t last long before Charles’ big hand wraps around Max’s throat, jerking him to his feet and dragging him to his bedroom. Max is thankful for the thick walls of his suite, he’d hate for anyone to hear him whimper like that.

What seems like hours later, Charles is finally asleep, sprawled out across Max’s bed, while Max himself is curled in a tiny ball at the very edge, as far from Charles as possible. When Charles begins to snore softly, Max carefully slips out of bed, quietly dresses, and silently leaves the suite. Once he’s in the hallway, and the door is carefully closed, the fear takes over. Max turns and sprints for the elevator, slamming the ‘down’ button over and over again until the door opens. The elevator is blissfully empty. Max hits the button to go two floors down, frantically hitting the ‘close door’ button when he hears a door down the hall open.

The door slides open and Max bursts out, eyes wide. He finds the sign showing which way to go for the room he’s looking for and sprints in that direction. He beats on the door so hard that he knows his knuckles will be bruised. The door finally opens, and Max throws himself into Daniel’s arms and promptly bursts into tears. 


	2. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel learns what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am, back so soon. (Honestly a miracle, considering I have a half-written chapter to my other fic that I just can't seem to write, but hey, whatcha gonna do?) Tags still apply, this is not any gentler than chapter one.

Daniel opens the door, irritated. It's three in the fucking morning. Who the fuck is knocking on the damn door. The irritation turns immediately to concern when he's suddenly got an armful of sobbing Max. He shoves the door closed. The slamming sound just makes the younger man even more hysterical. 

"Hey, hey, Maxy. What's wrong? Shhhhh, shhhh." Daniel runs his hands over Max's back.

Max's knees buckle, and Daniel scoops him up instinctively. He carries the sobbing man bridal-style to the bed, glad the blankets are already pulled down. He carefully slides into bed, still holding Max tightly to his chest. He sits propped up against the headboard, and slowly reaches down to pull up the fluffy white blankets around Max. He's sobbed himself unconscious at this point. 

Daniel takes the opportunity to really look at Max. He looks exhausted, and if Dan thinks back, Max has looked tired for most of the season. He feels thinner than usual, which is saying something, because Max has always been thin, hazard of the job. Daniel is already worried, but that multiplies by a thousand when the younger man's head falls to the side in his restless sleep. That's when Daniel sees them. Four perfect bruises, from four long, thin fingers. He gently tilts Max's head the other way and finds a matching thumb print. He's filled to the brim with rage, wants to run out of the room, hunt down whoever did this to Max, and pummel them. But Max whimpers in his sleep, and Dan melts, holding him even closer. He manages to reach his phone on the bedside table and calls the only person he can think to call at a time like this.

"Hey, sorry, I know it's late. I need you in room 5246, it's an emergency. The door’s unlocked. Thanks." Daniel hangs up and focuses all his attention toward whispering gently to Max and rubbing his back and stroking his hair.

___________________________________________________________________________

The door clicks open softly, and Daniel looks up to meet Kimi's eyes. The man has a rapidly fading look of annoyance on his face.

"What happened?" Kimi asks, stepping closer to the bed. Seb appears from behind him, eyes on Max.

"He showed up here, panicked, crying. He passed out, in my arms. He's got bruises on his throat and he's whimpering in his sleep. I've never seen him like this. Even when we were together and he had nightmares, he was never like this. I don't know what happened. Maybe he met someone while he was out with the team tonight? I don’t think he’s with anyone right now.” The Daniel’s voice has a raw edge to it. Guilt. If he hadn’t switched teams, if he hadn’t let the politics of switching teams tear them apart, if he had just learned to be ok with Max beating him in the same car, this wouldn’t have happened. Max would have been safe tonight, Daniel would have kept him safe at the party, and they would have come here to go to bed together.

Kimi’s hand settles heavily on Dan’s shoulder, “Don’t be guilty. This isn’t your fault. But it is someone’s. And we need to figure out who.”

Seb rips his eyes away from Max’s sleeping form, “We should call Christian. You know he’s always the last to leave team celebrations, he’ll know if Max left with someone.”

Daniel’s eyes go as wide as saucers. He almost wants to tell Seb no, because he can’t imagine how Christian will handle seeing Max with Daniel again. But they have to. So he nods, and Seb pulls his phone out and steps into the other room to call Christian. It’s not even five minutes later when he comes back in the room with a still half-asleep Christian behind him.

“What the fuck?” Christian rushes to the edge of the bed, and reaches out to touch Max. Kimi grabs his wrist and gives him a look. Christian withdraws his hand, and meets Daniel’s eyes, “What happened? What is he doing here?” Daniel repeats the story again, still running his hand over Max’s back. 

Christian rubs a hand over his face, “He left early, alone. Said he was just tired. And he always looks tired these days, but he says he’s sleeping, so I told him good night and he left. He texted me and said he was back in his room and going to bed.”

“So he either left his room or someone was there with him. Is he dating anyone?” Seb asks.

“Yeah, he’s dating Charles. You guys didn’t know that?” Christian asks, looking at Seb and Kimi.

“The boy didn’t mention it.” Kimi drawls, as Seb shakes his head. Daniel’s heart clenches in his chest. Their thoughts are suddenly disrupted by a knock on the door.

“Who is knocking at four in the morning?” Daniel sighs, exasperated.

Lando’s voice filters through the door, asking to ‘come in and snuggle because he’s cold and Carlos is too asleep to answer the door’. Seb smiles fondly and goes to let him in. Lando bounds into the room like an over-excited puppy, but instantly freezes when he sees Max’s tearstained face pressed into Daniel’s shirt. Lando looks to Dan for answers, quietly asking what’s going on.

“Someone hurt him, kiddo. We’re not really sure what happened.” Daniel says, softly.

Lando nods, “Can I cuddle with him? Do you think he’d be ok with that?”

“Yeah, Lando, I think that would be ok.” Daniel eases Max off of his lap and into the bed. He whimpers, reaching for Daniel restlessly, but settles back down when Lando scoots in next to him. Lando is barely under the covers before Max is wrapped around him like an octopus.

Lando smiles sleepily, and mumbles, “Love you, Max.” And, just like that, they’re both asleep. It takes a few minutes before Christian clears his throat and everyone else in the room realizes that they’re just staring at Max and Lando curled up in bed. Like weirdos. 

“Precious babies.” Seb squeaks, as quietly as he can. Kimi laughs, but he’s looking at them in the soft way that he looks at his kids.

“Come on, let’s go talk in the other room, let them sleep.” Daniel is reluctant to leave the room, loathe to take his eyes off Max, petrified that something will happen to him if he’s out of Dan’s sight. But he does what Christian says. He’s halfway through the door before suddenly turning back. He grabs his phone, and scrolls through pages of apps before he finds the little folder labelled ‘Max’. He opens the night light app and sets the phone back on the charger, room bathed in soft orange light. He leans over and brushes kisses over Max and Lando’s foreheads, and then creeps out of the room.

____________________________________________________________________________

Seb is pacing back and forth across the room, while Kimi sits staring stoically on the couch beside Christian. Daniel settles into a classic hotel beige armchair and puts his face in his hands.

“Are we actually thinking Charles did this to him?” Seb gives voice to the thoughts they’re all having.

“That’s the theory I’m working with. Unless you have a better one.” Daniel says, a hard edge in his voice.

“Charles?  _ Charles? _ Of all people, Daniel, I mean, really?” Seb sounds incredulous.

“Are you thinking he’s incapable of such a thing?” Christian asks.

“I think we should wake up Max. Ask what happened. And find Charles. He might not have done this. He could be hurt somewhere!” Seb’s voice is full of concern.

Christian meets Dan’s eyes, “He has a point, Daniel.”

“Fuck. Ok, I’ll wake him. But I’m asking all the questions. And if he gets overwhelmed, everyone leaves. He’s having a bad enough day as it is, I’ll not have anyone making it worse.” Daniel stands up, takes a moment to gather himself, and heads into the bedroom. Waking Lando is easy. The kid slides out of bed, and Max curls up tightly around himself.

“Maxy. Maxy. Come on, baby, wake up.” Daniel runs his fingers lightly over Max’s cheek. Max’s eyes open and, for a minute, Daniel can tell that Max doesn’t remember what’s going on. And it breaks his heart to watch it all come back.

The tears well up immediately, “Daniel…” Max sniffles. Daniel pulls him into a firm hug, but loosens his grip when Max moans in pain.

“What’s wrong, did I hurt you?” Daniel pulls back, looking the younger man over. “Maxy, I saw your neck. Are there more bruises?”

Max is actively crying now, and he nods. Daniel’s heart cracks a little more, and his rage grows.

“Will you show me?” Daniel asks gently.

Max nods miserably, and takes off his shirt. Daniel thought he had been as angry as he could get, but the sight of Max’s beautiful pale skin dotted in dark bruises makes him ready to kill someone. Daniel can see clear handprints wrapped around Max’s arms, and there are other dark marks drifting down his chest and stomach. If Daniel thought they had been left there consensually, during something Max had enjoyed, he would call the marks hickies. But these, these deep and dark and obviously painful bruises, can’t be called that. Max starts easing down his soft grey sweatpants, and Daniel has to bite back a curse. There are more handprints on Max’s slim hips. And a bold black bite mark on his inner thigh. As dark as it is, Dan is shocked it didn’t break the skin.

Daniel doesn’t realize that he’s crying too, until he opens his mouth and has to stifle a sob, “Oh, Maxy. I’m so sorry this happened to you. What happened, baby?”

Max sobs through the story, telling Daniel everything, how Charles has been hitting him since Monaco, how he showed up at Max’s door tonight, and finally, gasps out, “He raped me. And I let it happen because I was so scared of what he would do if I fought back. And then, I waited until he fell asleep and I ran here to you. I knew you would keep me safe.” Max is sobbing, and Daniel’s heart shatters. 

“You’re absolutely right, baby. I’ll always keep you safe. Come on, let’s lay down and you can get some more sleep.” Daniel gently pulls Max close to him, pressing a long kiss to his forehead. 

Daniel fights to stay awake. Max finally drops into a peaceful sleep, allowing Daniel to slid a hand into the sleeping man’s pocket and find his room key. Daniel carefully slips out of bed. Max doesn’t even stir. Daniel creeps to the door, and quickly exits, meeting four sets of curious eyes. 

“Lando, can you go lay with Max? If he wakes up, tell him I’ll be back soon.” Lando nods, and heads into the bedroom silently. Daniel turns his attention to putting on his shoes and finding his own room key in the pile of nonsense on the table in the entryway of his room. 

“Daniel? What are you doing?” Seb’s worried voice barely breaks through the hot buzzing in Daniel’s ears.

“I’m gonna kill him, Seb.” And with that, Daniel is out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pray for Charles. Or don't. Dan is out for blood either way.
> 
> Thoughts? I love you all for reading my bullshit.


	3. First Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first confrontation with Charles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, heed the tags. This one is slightly gentler.

Daniel is already in the elevator when Seb and Christian catch up to him. Daniel is so focused on his rage, on thoughts of kicking Charles’ ass, that he barely hears Seb begging him to calm down, to think rationally about his actions. Christian just stands in the corner, feigning indifference while similar thoughts to Daniel’s flash through his mind. The elevator doors slide open, Dan slips around Seb, and comes face to face with Kimi. Kimi isn’t even breathing hard, even though Daniel knows he had to run up the stairs to beat them there.

“Stop.” Kimi says.

Daniel looks at him in shock, “Kimi. He hurt Max. Let me through.” 

“No. You have to use your brain. If you cause a scene here, you could get Max in just as much legal trouble as Charles. And that’s just going to hurt him more. Give me the room key. We can go talk to him, but you have to stay in control. No yelling. Not going to try to kick his ass. We know where he lives, we can always do that later. But not here.” Kimi finishes his speech with a gentle hand on Daniel’s arm.

Daniel deflates, “You’re right. I just...He hurt Max.” 

“I know, kid. I know. He’ll pay for it. Just not in this country.” Kimi drops his hand, and turns, setting off to what used to be Max’s room.

____________________________________________________________________________

Charles hears the door slam shut, and sits up quickly. Max isn’t in bed, and it’s obviously not morning, Charles can still see the night sky through the gauzy curtains over the bedroom window. He rolls out of bed lazily, pulls on some sweatpants and heads into the living room, expecting to find Max. He comes face-to-face with a pack of angry faces instead.

“Sit down.” Daniel growls, pointing to the smaller of two couches in the suite.

Charles, shockingly, does as he’s told, “What is happening?”

Daniel takes in a long, ragged breath, and opens his mouth to speak, but Kimi’s hand on his leg silences him before he gets the chance.

“Why don’t you tell us? What happened tonight?” Seb asks, his own anger finally growing at the site of Charles obviously awake and well.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Daniel’s fist clenches, and Kimi’s grip on his leg tightens, “I celebrated with the team, came here, Max and I had some alone time, and then we went to sleep. And then I was being woken up by the sound of you all coming in here, and I have no idea where Max is.”

Daniel laughs mirthlessly, “‘Had some alone time’? Is that what you call it? He showed up at my door at three. Sobbing. Covered in bruises from you. And you just gloss over what you did to him tonight? How dare you?” Kimi gives his leg a squeeze, though whether it’s for comfort or to remind him to stay in his seat, Daniel isn’t sure.

“Well, you know how he is, Daniel. He likes it rough and he's very dramatic.” Charles gives Daniel a satisfied smirk, and Kimi wonders if the kid has any sense of danger and self-preservation at all.

Daniel is almost shocked, and somehow even angrier at the remark, “He likes it rough? That’s how you’re justifying wrapping your hand around his throat so hard that I could make out every one of your fingers? How you’re justifying biting him everywhere to the point of black bruises? The handprints on his arms and hips, maybe, just maybe that could be from consensual rough sex. But the other stuff? The bites? The strangling? That’s abuse,” Daniel has to pause for breath, and Kimi squeezes his leg reassuringly, “As for him being dramatic, he’s far from it. He spent years being told by his worthless excuse for a father that he needed to be strong and not feel anything. So now, he feels everything so intensely. There’s nothing wrong with that. How dare you try to spin this into his fault? Are you really so delusional that you think you can hurt him like this just because? What the fuck is wrong with you? He trusted you. He let you get close, he doesn’t do that easily. You were one of the privileged few allowed in, and this is how you treat him? He trusted you.” Daniel is near tears at this point, and stops, scrubbing his hand over his face.

Charles finally has the sense to at least look ashamed, “What are you going to do?”

“I’ve texted Mattia. And obviously I know. It’ll be up to Max as to whether he files criminal charges. But, from a work standpoint, you will be attending therapy, including inpatient anger management therapy. I’m sure Mattia will find other punishments for you too. You’ll also be paying for any therapy that Max requires. Do you have a key to his apartment?” Christian asks, holding a hand out expectantly. Charles nods, and retrieves the key, tucked in his wallet, from the coffee table. He drops it into Christian’s waiting hand. 

“Good. Daniel, why don’t you go pack up all of Max’s things. I think he’s quite finished with this room, don’t you?” Daniel almost forgot about Christian’s ability to do this, to be in control of a situation with ease, even when it’s a horribly stressful one. He gets up and goes into the bedroom, finding Max’s bag and packing it quickly. He makes sure to grab the helmet he’d given Max in their helmet swap earlier in the day, before it all went to shit. As he’s packing Max’s bag, he spots something in the side pocket that stops him.

It’s a set of bracelets, simply made, just knotted thread really, but it’s deep blue and bold yellow twisted together, and it breaks Dan’s heart. They’ve clearly been there for a while, and Daniel has to sit down when the thought of Max making these for them before they had that last fight and broke up enters his mind. Daniel puts one on, and slips the other in his pocket before heading back into the living room with Max’s things. Daniel is so overwhelmed, so angry, so tired, so sad for Max, and guilty for not trying harder to save their relationship after the Renault thing, but, buried under those feelings, there’s hope. Hope that he can make it up to Max, hope that they can be together and that he can help Max heal from this. Daniel starts to walk by the other four men, but pauses to look hard at Charles, “You are horrible, and this is not the last conversation we’ll have about this. Jules would be horrified. You need to fix yourself. And I want my fuckin’ helmet back.” With that, he strides straight out the door. Max needed him, and he needed Max.

____________________________________________________________________________

Daniel would have sworn that he had no more room for any more emotions tonight, but the sight before him was making his heart melt. Max is in the middle of the bed, right where Daniel had left him, but it seemed that Lando had recruited reinforcements. Alex, George, and Carlos are all scattered around the bed, surrounding Max with warmth and safety. Daniel snaps a quick photo, because Seb and Kimi would just melt, before carefully climbing into bed. He ends up in between Max and Alex, spooning Max. He can feel Alex, curled up behind him, George’s arm snug around his waist. He can see Lando, snuggled up to Max, Carlos spooning him. Just before Dan starts to fall asleep, he reaches into his pocket, finds Max’s bracelet, and ties it around the sleeping man’s wrist. He presses a kiss to Max’s hair, and falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to go a little more dramatic with this chapter, but then I was thinking about Abu Dhabi and did this instead. There will be violence in another chapter, probably. Thoughts?
> 
> Side note: Did anyone else die a little at Daniel's instagram post swapping helmets with Max? Anyone else dying to know what the note he wrote for Max says?


	4. Calm Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that I practically abandoned this. Turns out my good buddies Anxiety and Depression don't channel themselves into creativity for me. It's been a rough couple of months, but I think I'm back.
> 
> This is really a filler chapter, while I further plan the hell I'm going to put our boys through before their happy ending.

The first thing Max feels when he wakes up is fear. He takes a deep shuddering breath and immediately has to fight back a sneeze. He opens his eyes, and that’s when he realizes that his nose is buried in dark curls. He takes another deep breath. Daniel. The older man still smells exactly the same, and it makes Max feel safe. Max smiles, eyes watering. He blinks back the tears.  


The next thing Max realizes is that he’s hot. Like really, really hot. He pushes up on an elbow and looks around. The source of the heat is quickly identified. Daniel is wrapped around Max, as if he’s trying to fit the younger man into his body, and Max loves it. But, beyond Daniel, he can see Alex and George, curled around each other, and around he and Dan. Behind him, Max can feel another warm body, and turns his head to find Lando and Carlos.  


Max feels like crying again, but not out of fear or pain. He loves these guys so much, and to feel this much love back is something he hasn’t experienced in a long time. He settles back down, reaching up with his left hand to touch Daniel’s face. The sleeping man leans into the touch, rubbing his nose lightly on Max’s wrist. That’s when Max notices the bracelet. He’s been carrying them around for months, he made them on the plane ride home from Abu Dhabi last year, but then he and Dan had gotten into the argument and broken up, and they had been sitting in his bag ever since. Max catches sight of the other half of the set, wrapped around Daniel’s right wrist, and he melts into Dan, slowly falling back to sleep.  


When Max wakes for the day, it’s quickly obvious that he’s alone. He sits straight up and looks around quickly, wondering if everything had just been a dream. But then he spots his and Daniel’s bags in a pile in the corner, and bags he recognizes as belonging to Lando, Carlos, Alex and George in a neat row beside them. He can feel the threat of tears prickling behind his eyes, and quickly shakes himself out of it, getting up to change clothes. He pulls on a pair of soft sweats, before digging around in Daniel’s bag. He finds a grey henley and an old Red Bull hoodie, and drags them on.  


He exits the bedroom into madness. Seb is orchestrating the setting of the table, and the others are busy setting plates laden with food onto it. Daniel and Kimi are over in the corner, locked in conversation, but Daniel notices the second Max appears. The commotion stops when Dan quietly says, “Max,” and steps around Kimi, opening his arms. Max wastes no time getting to him, and Dan pulls him in tight. He startles a bit when he feels a hand on his back, but relaxes again at Lando’s squeaked apology. Carlos, Alex, and George are quick to join in the group hug. Seb tries, in vain, to get his arms around all of them, but smiles brightly when Kimi takes his hand and stretches his arms out to encircle the boys and catch Seb’s other hand. They stand like that for a few minutes, before Max proclaims that he’s being squished and is starving. They settle around the table, Kimi and Seb at the heads, Max between Daniel and Lando, Carlos across from his teammate, Alex and George filling the seats across from Dan and Max. Max briefly wonders if this is what family feels like, before plates start circling the table and his mind’s sole focus is food.  


After breakfast, they all have a lazy snuggle on the couch, except for Kimi who disappears while talking on the phone. Max finds himself almost floating, half awake while Daniel cards his fingers through Max’s hair. Max just follows Daniel’s lead all day, getting ready to go to the airport,telling everyone goodbye and thanking them for their help, loading up their things into one SUV, Kimi behind the wheel. Max looks over at Daniel, when he realizes that they’re heading to the small private airstrip.  


“Kimi is dropping us off in Monaco before he and Seb head home to Switzerland.” Daniel says, running his fingers over the bracelet on Max’s wrist. “Everyone else volunteered to come home with us, but I thought you would want as few people around as possible for everything to come.”  
Max nods at this, mind slipping to the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a lot to ask, but I would love any thoughts or opinions on what I've done so far. Much love to anyone who takes the time to read this. ❤


	5. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel and Max head home...ish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me again! It feels good to write again! Hope it's good!

They’re barely over the border into Monaco when Max starts to hyperventilate. Daniel turns to look at him from the driver’s seat of the Megane RS that he’d asked Cyril to have waiting at the airport in Nice. The fear in Max’s face has him making a U-turn and heading straight back to Nice. It takes 30 minutes before Max’s breathing evens back out. He’s got a death grip on Daniel’s sleeve, and when Dan turns to look at him, he’s slipping into sleep. Daniel waits until he’s asleep, before pulling out his phone.

Daniel manages to get Max to wake up enough to get into the hotel. The staff at the Negresco don’t even bat an eye at the sight of two exhausted F1 stars booking one room. Daniel picks a beachfront suite, because he knows Max loves the sound of the waves. They get to the room, get their bags inside, wrestle their shoes off, and collapse in bed. Daniel’s eyes are just starting to close, when he hears Max’s soft voice.

“Thank you. I just... I couldn’t go back there. He’s everywhere there.”

Daniel takes a moment to mentally kick himself for not thinking of that, “I know, baby. I’m so sorry that I didn’t think of that. I’m thinking we should head south for the winter, let Mom feed us, Michael can train both of us, we can just hide out and relax. Unless you wanted to go somewhere else. I don’t want to let you out of my sight, but if you had plans that you still want to go do, then just let me know.”

Max shakes his head, snuggling into Daniel’s chest, “No, I just want to stay with you. I’ve missed you so much. I should have come to you the first time he hurt me. I should have come to you before that. I’m sorry for what I said, when we broke up. I shouldn’t have said any of it. I love you so much. It’s ok if you don’t love me anymore, I can g-”

Max’s sentence is cut off by Daniel’s lips. The kiss is long and soft, full of love and apologies, and it leaves them both breathless. 

“I don’t ever want to hear you say that ever again. I love you more than anything. I have loved you from the moment I met you, and I will love you until the day I die. I want you right next to me for the rest of our lives. I want your good days and your bad days and your meh days. I want dinners and breakfasts and midnight snacks in bed with you. I want to celebrate your victories and help you mourn your losses. I just want to love you, Maxy.” Daniel’s voice cracks at the end of his declaration, and Max’s eyes are glittering with tears.

The tears spill over as Max starts to speak, “I love you. I wish I had never left you. I want to be with you forever. I want everything you said and more with you.”

They spend a while longer whispering sweet nothings at each other, Daniel kissing every available inch of Max’s face, gliding his hands gently over Max’s arm and back. Daniel just wants to worship him. Wants to make him feel safe, and loved, and beautiful. He’s careful to avoid the nasty bruises Charles left on the blond’s perfect body. Eventually, they fall asleep, wrapped in each other and love. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Morning comes, and the soft dawn light trickling through the window wakes Max first. Daniel is curled around him, holding him close as if he’s trying to fit Max into his own body. It’s so very different to how Max is now used to waking up. Charles never held him. They never snuggled. After sex, if it could even be called that, Charles would roll over, turning his back to Max, and stay that way all night. Max wants to scream at the thought. How had he let that happen? How had that become his normal? After all that time with Daniel; Daniel, who could barely seem to sleep unless he was touching Max. Daniel, who never let go of Max after they’d made love, preferring to hold him and whisper to him and touch him all over like he could never get enough of Max. Daniel, who loved to sprawl out on the couch with his head in Max’s lap, who loved to hold Max’s hand at any available opportunity, who gave random hugs and kisses and compliments and affection as often as he could. How had Max gone from that, to Charles, completely unaffectionate Charles? Max is angry at himself for allowing it.

Daniel feels Max tensing in his arms, and pulls the younger man closer, pressing a kiss to the nearest available part of Max’s face before opening his eyes, “You ‘k, Maxy?”

Max gives a watery laugh, blinking back the tears threatening to spill over, “Yeah, I’m ok. I just love you. I’m so lucky. I’m so lucky that you love me. That you were in your room and answered the door in the middle of the night. That you didn’t turn me away.” 

The tears do spill over now, “I was just thinking about...about him. And how obvious it was that he hated me. How did this happen? How did I let this happen?” Max’s breathing starts to get faster and more ragged, “You were the perfect boyfriend. And then we broke up, and Charles was flirting with me, and I needed something, someone. And it was nice, at first. And then he started hitting me, and the other stuff, but he always seemed so sorry! He said it was just the stress, that he wouldn’t do it again, but he always did! And, for a long time, I thought I deserved it. That I deserved it, because I was so awful to you, and because I’m so unlovable and ugly and cold and stupid and, and, an-” 

Max’s voice breaks, and he dissolves into tears. Daniel snaps out of the horrified trance he’s slipped into and gathers the man into his arms. Daniel holds Max tight to his chest, whispering to him, voice low and soft. He presses his lips to the tousled blond hair, and just  _ holds Max.  _ When the tears finally stop, Daniel pulls away, just far enough to meet those glorious blue eyes. 

“I want you to listen to me. You are none of those things. You absolutely did not deserve what happened to you. No one deserves that. You didn’t deserve it from Charles anymore than you deserved it from Jos. You didn’t deserve it, just like your mom didn’t deserve it when your dad hit her.” Daniel pauses, because the lump in his throat is getting hard to speak around, “As for the things he said you are, they’re lies, Max. All fuckin’ lies. You are gorgeous. My mouth goes dry and I can barely breathe at the sight of you sometimes. Lord knows I can’t concentrate for a moment after you walk in a room. You are the sexiest man alive in my opinion. And you’re so smart, Max. So goddamn smart. You had me worked out seconds after meeting me. You knew how to beat me after watching me in the sim once. You know how your car works, you know how the team works, you handle everything like it’s the easiest thing in the world, and I admire that so much.”

Max starts to blush, a slight smile trying to creep onto his face. Daniel pops a kiss on the end of his perfect nose, and continues, “And ‘cold’? You are so far from it, baby. You’re loving, generous, ambitious, courageous, intelligent, compassionate; I could go on forever. You love more deeply than anyone else I know. I have no idea how anyone could spend more than 30 seconds with you and call you unlovable. I fell in love with you the second I met you. You’re magnificent. I am so lucky to be allowed to love you. I’m, to quote Lewis, #blessed to get to be close to you.” Max lets out a little laugh.

Daniel tilts Max’s face up, so they’re eye to eye, “I adore you. I loved you when I met you. I loved you when we were together. I’ve loved you for the past year, even when I barely got to talk to you. I love you now. I love you more than anything. And I understand if you aren’t ready, but I would love to be with you again. I would love to be your boyfriend again.”

Those ice blue eyes fill with tears, and something that looks like hope, “Obviously. Of course I want to be with you. I love you, Daniel. I love you so much.”

They collapse into each other. There are more tears, more kisses, but it’s mostly just them being together. They snuggle. They talk. Daniel catches Max up on everything going on with the family. He tells Max about Renault’s plans to fill Nico’s seat with Ocon. Max rolls his eyes, and Daniel laughs. Inside, he’s thrilled that Max is showing some of his fiery personality again. That flash of Max, his Max, disappears at the sound of a knock on the door.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok. It’s ok, baby. It’s ok. It’s just Valtteri. I asked him to go to our apartments and pack us some things.” Daniel presses a comforting kiss to Max’s brow.

He goes and opens the door, and Valtteri looks like he wants to ask a million questions. Daniel lets him in and starts to open his mouth to speak when he hears the soft sound of Max’s bare feet on the carpet. Valtteri’s eyes go to the young Dutch man instantly, and, in seconds, he’s standing in front of Max, the bags he brought abandoned on the floor. Max stares at Valtteri for a moment. Daniel blinks, and Max is softly crying into Valtteri’s chest. Val is mumbling in Finnish, Max clutched to him. Daniel takes a moment to snap a quick photo and send it to Kimi, who might as well be Valtteri’s dad. And Max’s. And His. Kimi and Seb are basically everyone’s dads. Except Carlos. Carlos has Fernando. It’s a bone of contention between the champions. They seem to have split custody. The sound of Max’s giggle breaks Daniel out of his inner monologue about their little grid family, bringing him back to reality.

When Daniel’s eyes focus on the blonds, Valtteri is telling Max all about one of Lewis’s temper tantrums. Max is giggling, leaned casually against the table. Valtteri is making a fool of himself for Max’s entertainment, pacing back and forth, doing what is, honestly, a pretty good impression of the British champion. Daniel smiles softly, and makes his way over to join them. They talk for the next couple of hours. Valtteri insists on ordering pizza from Les Amoureux, one of Max’s favorites in Nice. As the day grows later, Valtteri leaves, heading back to Monaco. Daniel and Max get ready to head to the airport. Daniel calls his team, lets them know where he’ll be. To only call him if it was essential. He texts Christian, tells him that Max will be in Australia. That he needed at least a couple of weeks before hearing from anyone. Christian thanks him for the update, and tells Dan to let him know if they need anything.

The flight to Australia is long. Max and Daniel sleep through most of it. Curled up on each other in their large, soft seats, the flight attendant drapes a blanket over them. Getting off the plane is liberating. Daniel watches the weight of the past year begin to slip off of Max’s shoulders. He seems lighter already, bathed in the golden glow of the evening Australian sun. He laughs when Daniel sings in the rental car. He makes jokes at Daniel’s expense, commenting on the lack of kangaroos, (“We’re in the middle of Perth, Maxy.”), and just generally poking fun at any unusual thing he sees along the way. They pull up to Daniel’s parent’s home, just as the sun is starting to set. Daniel knocks on the door, and steps back to wait. When it swings open, his mom is standing there, wearing a look of shock. 

That’s when Daniel realizes he forgot to call her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this is supposed to be angsty! I'm just a whore for fluff. There will be more angst though, I promise! anyway, hope you enjoyed! Comments give me life! 
> 
> Also, if anyone has been, or is going to the French Grand Prix, let me know! I'm going this year, it'll be my first! Super excited, but zero idea how to prepare! Any tips would be appreciated.


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